#30 Weekend trips to the beach with new friends and exciting new travel plans

Staying in Lima for one month was something that I hadn't initially planned upon. However the longer I stayed, the more friends that I made and the more of a routine I got into it quickly became quite hard to think about leaving. However now I am actually on a time scale which I had not been on before, now halfway through my 12 month trip I thought about whether I wanted to discover other parts of the world. Initially I thought about staying in Latin America for the whole twelve months (money permitting of course) however after talking to people along the way I heard that even though the countries in South South America (Chile, Argentina and Brazil) are exquisite they are the more expensive countries of the continent. Now after travelling for six months I feel more confident in discovering more countries further afield. Sri Lanka was a country in particular that appealed to me and people had nothing but positive things to say about South East Asia....it got me thinking and I started browsing blogs, instagram posts and flights. What further influenced my decision was meeting Amy, an Australian girl that I met in Ecuador and travelled with her and other friends for three weeks (not long in the real world but in the travelling world it is a long time especially considering that we spent Christmas and new year together). We joked in Ecuador that we would fly to the Philippines for Amy's 30th, as with most drunken conversations I didn't think this idea would transpire. However I had the delight of Amy coming to Lima for two days which ended in her staying nearly two weeks until she flew out to New Zealand. During this time we decided to take some advice from Nike and 'just do it' so to speak. So I booked flights.....to the PHILIPPINES from Lima with a four day Stop off in San Francisco on the way and will meet Amy in the Philippines on the 5th April. I will have to come back to visit Chile, Argentina and Brazil another time! Now I will have five months to discover South East Asia, Nepal,and Sri Lanka (again money permitting)!

After spending three weeks in Lima city, I decided to make the most of new friends I had made and managed to get the manager Sergio in the hostel to give me the weekend off working in the hostel to head out of the city and to the beach! I made a great friend called Melissa whilst working in Dragonfly. She is from Lima originally but has worked as a tour guide in the past and the minute I met her we got on like a house on fire. She invited amy and I to come to Paracas with her for a weekend. A beach town about four hours south of Lima. It had actually been on my list of places I had wanted to visit but I just hadn't made it yet. It is best known for the national park and the ballestas islands. Day trips are popular where you can see blue footed boobies (a type of bird I had already been lucky to see in Ecuador) and sea lions. We however were more drawn in to the thought of some sun, sea, swimming pools and happy hours. I also invited Leonardo a friend who I met working on the Superlearner project. Leonardo is a musician and from Lima and he does some music workshops with the kids on the project. I was also shocked to learn he had never been to Paracas so we recruited him to come too.

After having a pretty heavy night on Friday and ending up in a pirate themed club in Barranco in Lima after working in the hostel, we dragged ourselves out of bed to get the bus to Paracas. Amy, Melissa, me and my friend Leonardo decided to ditch the overpriced tourist coaches to Paracas and take a much cheaper public coach from a highway in Lima (much easier to navigate when you have two Spanish speaking locals with you). We paid half the price of $6 for the four hour bus journey to a nearby town of pisco and grabbed a collectivo taxi from there. By the time we arrived that afternoon we were feeling slightly more refreshed having all slept the majority of the way on the bus. I was thinking we were very lucky to have had the pleasure of the journey taking us down the very straight pan American highway! We arrived at Kokopelli hostel in Paracas, which we were told was fully booked that night as is the case for most weekends being the main (party) hostel in the town (luckily we had bikes) and after a slight mess up with our booking we got it all sorted.The pool looked glorious and there was a big bar area out the back with hammocks, bar games, pool, table tennis and an entrance onto the beach.

Kokopelli swimming pool 

We immediately went for a long overdue feed and indulged in ceviche (sure what better than raw fish to ease a hangover) and more fish and rice for a main. By the time we got back from our food, Amy, Leo and I walked out to the beach at the back of kokopelli to watch the sunset! Very romantic for the three of us.

That night we ended up drinking lots of rum (smuggled into the hostel) ssshhhhhh, played cards and giant Jenga. The night ended in some salsa dancing and me bailing out at the pretty embarrassing time of 12.30 for bed, the pirate night really got to me! In the morning we took advantage of the inviting pool and the blistering sun shine. Melissa, Leo and I went kayaking in the sea getting bashed by the waves from the jet skis and gawking at Pelicans. Apart from eating, playing frisbee in the pool and reading our books we didn't do much else and it was lovely. Unfortunately Melissa left Sunday evening as she is a real adult and had to work on Monday. Leo, Amy and I however stayed another night. We walked along the promenade in Paracas that evening. We detoured through a five star resort and were blown away at how beautiful (and expensive looking) it was. We must have looked very out of place with our kokopelli wrist bands on. We continued along the promenade gazing into the back of all mansions backing onto the sea and of course we stopped to see the sunset on the way back to Kokopellie. We spent the night playing pool and more giant Jenga with Scott and Kelly, an Australians brother and sister we had met at the hostel. The next day we navigated our way back to Lima and Dragonfly just in time for me to work at 6pm on the bar.

Paracas sunset 

Giant Jenga queens 

Leo and I

Next Stop: back to Lima again 

Stayed: Kokopelli hostel, Paracas about $10 per night depending on dorm 

Food and drink: chilcanos (pisco, ginger ale and lime), fresh ceviche and fish 

#29 Slowing down in the busy capital of Peru

Lima.....again
After rethinking my plans to stay in Arequipa I decided to venture back to the massive capital city of Lima with Kristy and Eimear. This entailed a 16 hour bus which evolved into a twenty hour bus journey due to mud slides outside of Arequipa. It also involved being surrounded by three INTENSE snorers, one of which was sitting beside me, a (large) Peruvian man in his fifties face conveniently tilted in my direction, middle arm rest his for the journey with no chance of sharing (he also very unnervingly took a picture of me on his phone when I was asleep which I only happened to notice when I woke up abruptly to see him with phone in hand and me on the screen.....very creepy). The other man another two rows back which resembled a steam train and the third, two seats away from me..this man caused me the most concern (although snap happy man next to me took the lead after the photo shoot). You didn't need to be a physician to realise man number three had a severe case of sleep apnoea, snoring and groaning numerous decibels too high only to go silent for what felt like minutes to then proceed with a choking and grunting fit enough to jolt my next door neighbour snorer, alert me to thinking we would have to stop the bus to call an ambulance but surprisingly he never woke himself up.  Needless to say the snoring choir group got the best nights sleep on the bus! On the plus side we got three (carb heavy) meals and a comfy reclining chair with endless action filled Jackie Chan films playing as loud as possible throughout the journey.

We made it to Dragonfly hostel in the touristy, affluent area of Miraflores in South Lima the next evening. This is where I would be working/volunteering for the next couple of weeks which I had found on the website workaway. I was initially apprehensive at first at my choice of hostel for my first workaway. On my first day, helping with making beds and some general cleaning I walked into the kitchen to witness an American guy in his early twenties shouting at the two lovely girls who worked at the hostel declaring that he was sick of being treated like a slave and demanding some respect. He then proceeded to have a very public dispute with Sergio the manager of the hostel. He declared he was leaving only to change his mind, asking could he stay a few more days. Needless to say Sergio did not grant his request and he left that afternoon. I later found out that he was the volunteer before me. My friend Hazel who randomly showed up in Dragonfly for a few days (small travelling world) said he had been having the same screaming matches a couple of weeks ago when she was initially staying in the hostel....he was also a Trump supporter. Enough said! I didn't let his rants affect my judgement and I gradually came around the place, a sociable but relaxed hostel with a large rooftop terrace, small bar and decent kitchen, nice staff and very easy bar work serving Peruvian craft beers and pisco sours.

I was glad the hostel was a couple of blocks from the coast where you can find the impressive Malecon, a six mile stretch along the cliffs leading to the Pacific Ocean which has spotless, manicured parks and statues along the stretch, it's very popular with runners, bikes and walking (it feels more like Miami/Californian coastline rather than a South American capital city). Ive tried to get into a routine of running a few times a week along the Malecon (any later than 7.30am and it's too
hot). Seeing as it's the summertime here....Lima is very humid and sunny! A stark contrast to the snow and gloomy weather my family and friends are having to endure in England and Ireland.

The first few days in Lima I was getting used to the hostel work (not overly demanding). I also met up with Jorge who has set up a project called 'Superlearner' Lima which I also found on workaway. We discussed if and how I could get involved in his project which thankfully I have started and will write a separate post on the project.

 It was Kirsty and Eimears last few days in South America so we took advantage of the range of food options and drinks and did what we do best.....eat! We were however taken aback when we went out for food on our second night in Lima and a Saturday night at how expensive everything was...a main dish averaging at about $10-12 around Miraflores..yes I am aware this isn't extortionate but when you're used to paying $2 for a two course menu it seems like they're asking you for your first born in exchange for a shitty pizza in a gringo packed sports bar. Thankfully we wandered about for and actually found a delightful Arabic restaurant right on Parque Kennedy offering falafel, salad and hummus packed plates for about $6. So much food and very tasty! After a seriously garlic and onion heavy meal we met Jorge and his friends who very nicely offered to take us out and show us some local bars around Miraflores. It ended being an extremely diverse group consisting of three French girls, Jorge, leonardo (Peruvian), Leonardo (Venezuelan) and the three garlic humming dietitians. We went to bar called publico in Miraflores and had a few drinks (a rare Gin and tonic for me...one good thing about being in a generally westernised city). On the way home the girls and I walked back through Parque Kennedy in Miraflores, also known as the cat park. At night the park is filled with cats that live there....these cats are extremely friendly and are not the usually scrawny flea infested stray animals but are cared for and fed by locals around Miraflores! Safe to say I prefer the cat park to a dog park any day (sorry dog lovers).

After a few days of being in Lima and not having visited a local food market, Arthur (our French food and women loving friend from Arequipa), Hazel (my English friend from Ecuador) and I decided to seek one out. We found out there was the Surquillo mercado about a thirty minute walk away from Miraflores. We set off in search of fresh ceviche which Peru and of course Lima are famous for. After walking through the mercado we randomly stopped at a fish stand with an array of fresh squid, scallops, octopus and shellfish sprawled out on display under some pretty tacky glittery shell mobiles. Arthur asked the Peruvian woman how much some squid would be to buy. She quickly proceeded to grab a couple of handfulls of the fish, placing it in a big bowl with a spicy sauce made from chilli (Ricotta) and water and laid it on a plate with sweet potato, lime, topped with red onion and coriander. She asked us to sit and gave us the plate to try for free. It. Was. Amazing. She was so
proud of her produce she just wanted us to try it! After some flirting by Arthur wth the two lovely Peruvian women who both had a wicked sense of humour we decided to ask for some ceviche to buy and share between us. The plate of seafood joy we got was by the far the best food I have eaten since I've been away! Deep dried seaweed, scallops and squid in a light batter, mixed seafood ceviche, sweet potatoes and more spice and lime. Just sitting with these Peruvian women and two new friends
in a quiet market on a random morning eating the freshest fish made in front of us was a very special experience. Of course I came back with Jorge a few days later and funnily we didn't get as much
attention from the Peruvian women (maybe as I hadn't brought back another French man) however the fish was still ridiculously good.

Market ceviche...so fresh 

Apart from hanging around Miraflores I also went to bohemian Barranco which has really great street art, nice bars and restaurants as well as good views over the sea and out to another suburb called Chorillos. Jorge brought Arthur, Hazel and I out to Barranco for a 'local' tour and drinks. We walked over the pointe Del Esperanza (the bridge of sighs), apparently if you walk over the bridge holding your breath and make a wish at the other side it comes true.....safe to say my pace became a lot faster as I got to the end of the bridge and I wished I didn't suffocate to death. I'm not one for galleries or museums but I did go to the Peruvian photographer, Mario Testinos exhibition in Barranco which I really liked, the gallery itself is set in a powder blue traditional house and displays some of his many photographs of famous celebrities as well as some of his vogue shots. He had also taken photographs of indigenous people in traditional dress. For only $3 entrance it was really good value.

MATE gallery 

The food in Lima I think deserves a whole paragraph (or probably blog). Lima is famous for its food and in the last few years has started to be recognised for its culinary skills. I've mentioned ceviche many times and it is definitely the place to try it...earlier in the day if possible, especially in the summer months (hot, humid weather and raw fish = dicing with death). I was lucky enough to be brought to Tio Mario, a well known Peruvian restaurant in Barranco over looking the Bridge of sighs. It is famous for its anticuchos (cows hearts)! It also serves stomach and skewers of tender marinated meat with choclo (corn) and potatoes. We also drank traditional 'chicha' a juice which is made from black corn, cinnamon, lime and sometimes pineapple. It is a Limean staple and found everywhere! After the Anticuchos (yep I had them....and liked them)! We had picarones for desert. Essentially donuts made from squash and sweet potatoes and served with fig honey. I appreciate a vegetable being a component of a desert and also...who doesn't love donuts. They definitely did not taste healthy but they were delish! This is probably the most traditional Peruvian meal possible and to top it all off it was national Pisco sour day so of course we had to go for a couple of the pisco, egg shite, lemon and sugar syrup cocktails (I've also managed to perfect making these from working in the hostel).

Falafel at tarboush 

Street art in Barranco 

Famous pisco sours at Ayahuasca 

Over the next two weeks in Lima I didn't hike, or go camping or do any tours and it was surprisingly nice! After nearly five months of travelling through ten countries and moving every few days I couldn't believe that I was craving to get into a 'routine'. Boring things like grocery shopping, cooking, going for runs and getting to know an area well like finding out where is good for coffee, ice cream, laundry and even how to navigate the public buses haha (its these weird little things that you start to miss)....not that I'm complaining at all.

Next Stop: staying in Lima for now
Stayed: Dragonfly hostel, Miraflores
Food/Drink: (quite a list)
Surquillo market for the best ceviche I have ever tasted
Tarboush for Arabic food on Parque Kennedy
Tio Mario in Barranco for traditional Peruvian food
Manola, Miraflores. Good coffee and claims to have the best churros in Lima! As well as the biggest sandwiches I have ever seen.
Ayahuasca in Barranco for cocktails
Bizarro nightclub

#28 Eating the Arequipan delicacies (not in moderation)

From Cusco we decided to head south to Arequipa also nicknamed the white city. I took an overnight bus to Arequipa from Cusco (true to nature I was being as indecisive as ever so the girls had already booked a bus by the time I decided to also tag along to Arequipa) the plus was that I found a cheaper albeit shittier bus and I arranged to meet the girls at the hostel we had booked. The hostel Friendly AQP was about a ten minute walk from the main square, Plaza de Armas. I was looking to get a workaway around Arequipa (working for board) and to stay a couple of weeks here to save a bit of money and well....just slow down a little bit. Workaway is a really popular website with people travelling that I've met along the way, it is essentially lists of 'volunteering' opportunities all over the world in a range of places from farms, hostels, schools, with families, in shops etc.

The morning we arrived we had a walk around the centre of town and of course quickly found a place for a strong (real) cup of coffee. I then went to look at two potential hostels for a workaway. The first was a lovely little hostel/hotel in town but after speaking with the manager Carlos (the only English speaking person in the hostel) he explained he would be leaving for a few months travelling and I would need to be giving tourist information in Spanish essentially to guests......I somehow didn't think my basic Spanish (Spanglish) would suffice. The next hostel would have been very easy reception type work but it was pretty grim so I decided against both of them.

We ended up spending three days in Arequipa. None of us had the yearning to seek our trips to the famous Colca or Catahausi canyons (deeper than the Grand Canyon) and instead we ended up having a few quieter days walking around Arequipa and eating (quite a lot) of the local foods that Arequipa is famous for. Of course on our first day we weren't long In finding the local food market called San Camillo (three food obsessed dietitians can clearly seek out every single market in every South    American city). Similar to the huge market in Cusco, it was arranged in sections of stalls ranging from fruit and vegetables to chicken, meat, fish, cheese, natural remedies, hats, juices, grains, bakeries and various household wares and clothes. Upstairs was the food court where we went for lunch on our first day along with a Miami native called David who quickly realised how obsessed we were with food and couldn't believe how much we talked about eating, food, what we have already eaten and what we still want to eat...... I had heard about a traditional Arequipan dish called Ricotto Rellena, a pepper stuffed with meat, onion some herbs and spices and served with potatoes gratin, which I got there for $3 complete with a vegetable soup as a starter.

Ricotto Rellena  

As we were in a new city this also meant another walking tour! The walking tour started at a beautiful little chocolate workshop/cafe called Chaqchao. They offered 'bean to bar' chocolate workshops (nom) and had so many different craft beers and wait for it......PERUVIAN GIN! However it was 10am and they were only selling it by the litre so I refrained.

Our tour guide Narella was local and took us around the white city for over two hours. We learnt that Arequipa got the nickname the white city due to the grand buildings built out of white volcanic stone but more so because it was known for having a predominantly 'white' population of Europeans when compared to the more inca/indigenous predominant populated cities like Cusco and Lima. This was also apparent in the architecture, baroque and Andean style churches and buildings line the Plaza de Armais. We visited a small enclosure called a 'Tambas' tucked away off one of the busy streets. Narella told us about thirty families lived in the small residences off the small peaceful square and that in the past the slaughter houses were located right beside the houses and that would be the
families livelihoods that lived there. We also went back to the San Camillo market for a tour, we walked through the butchers section where intestines, livers, hearts and snouts and heads of animals were laid out to be bought. These parts of the animals are more affordable for larger families and every part of an animal is used! Even tail is a popular meal (think I'll skip that one). We ended the tour in a local restaurant/bar with a small pisco sour (and a slightly larger one that I won for being the first to name the food market)! If it's food and alcohol related I can be pretty quick. Another local food that I had every day in Arequipa is famous queso helado (cheese ice cream). It's less than a dollar for a cup and is on nearly every street corner being sold by women in traditional dress. It sounds gross but before I go on it actually doesn't have any cheese In it. It's made from cream, sugar, coconut and cinnamon and they serve it with cinnamon sprinkled on top....delish.

Exploring the Tambas in Arequipa 

Whilst in Arequipa we had also wanted to visit the famous 'Juanita'. A well preserved girl of about 14 who was sacrificed in the Incan times and mummified in the snowy mountains outside of Arequipa. She is supposed to be one of the best preserved mummies in the world. Unfortunately Juanita had been moved to the university to be studied so we didn't really see the point in paying into the museum of the main attraction wasn't there.

One our last day there I set myself the small task of attempting to make El Salvadorian Papusas with the girls and a couple of guys we met in our hostel. I've wanted to try and make these for ages so thought while we had a day free and a kitchen available why not. I went to the market and bought corn flour for the dough and cheese for the fillings and set about making my first Papusas with the help of Kristy, Eimear and Devon. The whole process wasn't the swiftest but for a first try I was pretty happy. We made cheese and hot sauce savoury Papusas and peanut butter and banana sweet Papusas, making one for an Argentinian volunteer in the hostel called Léon who's 30th birthday it was that day! We spent the rest of our time playing pool, eating more chocolate and ice cream and I even managed to do some HIIT on the hostel rooftop with Devon one morning with a pretty amazing view of the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa.

My first papusas attempts 

Quest helado (cheese ice cream)....although contains no cheese 

View from the hostel rooftop of Misti, Picchu picchu, Chachani  volcanoes 

Luckily I heard back from a workaway in Lima so decided to take another overnight bus back up to Lima with the girls to start volunteering in a hostel and spend the last couple of days with Kirsty and Eimear before they head off to New Zealand!

Next Stop: Lima, Peru
Stayed: Friendly AQP Hostel, really sociable hostel...didn't want to leave! $8 per night with really good breakfast.
Food/drink: San Camillo market for Ricotto Rellano (stuffed pepper with meat, onion and spices served with potato gratin. CHIFA (Peruvian, Chinese food) around the corner from our hostel. Queso Helado ice cream. Immense chocolate mousse cake for $2 in cafe cocoa. Homemade Papusas in the hostel. Breakfast in the hostel, the best pancakes stuffed with banana and chocolate sauce or eggs and bread.

#27 Hiking again, this time the mountain of Rainbows

Having had a day to recover from Salkantay trek in Cusco which consisted of wandering around San Pedro market again eating market food of omelette, vegetables, rice and lots of chillies as well as trying all of the strange fruits, I actually surprised myself when I decided I wanted to do anther hike. Aimee and Grace, two lovely Californian girls we met on our hike and in our hostel wanted to do Rainbow mountain day hike. I had also wanted to do this when I read about it before coming to Peru and saw the vivid strips of colour on the mountain top. We bargained with the travel agent we booked our Salkantay hike with and got the day trip for 75 soles ($22) including breakfast and lunch...Bueno. We had an early night but when my alarm went off at 2.40am I really did wonder what I was doing! We got picked up from our hostel just after 3am and had a three hour bus journey out to Ausangate mountain (I think everyone slept most of the way). We set off hiking at about 8am after a simple (crap) breakfast of bread and jam as well as a surprisingly nice chocolate semolina concoction. We set off quite quickly knowing well how cold it would be at the top. We also were surprised at how many tourists were being dropped off at the same time. I was glad to see the girls also get 'pedestrian rage' so we bolted ahead of the crowds.

Baby alpaca with mummy 

The scenery was beautiful and the indigenous people in traditional dress with OPEN TOE sandals ran up and down constantly with their horses should any tourist feel the effects of the altitude. There were also Alpacas lining the trails with their little babies playing in the fields (I want/need a pet baby alpaca). After two and a half hours we made it to the top of rainbow mountain. The highest altitude I had ever been at at 5300m. Thankfully I wasn't overcome with altitude sickness and just had a bit of a headache. The thing that got to me the most was the cold. Even with four layers on, hats and gloves it was still excruciatingly cold...almost too cold to take a selfie!! The sleet and snow didn't help either. We took the obligatory tourist pictures and scrambled back down in under two hours taking breaks to re and de poncho with the intermittent rain and snow.

The top of rainbow mountain 

Once we got back on the bus we had an hour to wait for everyone else (we didn't mind though as long as it was warm). After everyone made it back to the bus we had a short drive to lunch where we were greeted with quinoa vegetable soup (can't believe I'd never had quinoa soup before) followed by chicken in sauce, rice and salad. We then had our three hour bus back to Cusco. This was of course another winding road complete with a child getting sick in a bag in the seat in front....think the altitude affected some more than others.
Later that evening Grace, Aimee and I cooked a simple and extremely cheap dinner of omelettes, avocado and salad (everything for $1)! And kirsty and Eimear joined us. Aimee and grace left us for Ecuador the next morning. Kirsty, Eimear and I decided to also leave Cusco the next evening..the three of us strangely looking forward to an overnight bus again!

Coffee in JC's cafe 

Next stop: Arequipa, Peru
Stayed: intro hostel, Cusco,
Food/drink: El tabuco, a really cute little pizza place around the corner from Intro hostel, Food in San Pedro market, $2.50 for vegetable omelette, salad and rice. Coffee in JC's cafe

#26 Salktantay trek and reaching Machu Picchu

The main reason people come to Cusco is to visit the infamous Machu Picchu. The historical site built by the Incas dating back to the 1500s. Most people seek out to trek the Inca trail, following the same paths that the indigenous Inca people did thousands of years ago. However due to its popularity the Inca trail can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars and tends to be booked up to six months in advance. As the Inca trail is out of our budget and we are definitely not organised enough to book something months in advance (I also don't see why you would pay hundreds for a hike) we had decided to look into the Salkantay trek which still takes you through the sacred valley, through Inca sites and ending at Machu Picchu. Over the past few months I had met people who had warned me about the tough trek, consisting of five days hiking and reaching a high altitude of 4300m on Salkantay mountain. I had been even more petrified when I met a Canadian couple in their twenties on a hike in Guatemala who said they had opted out of Salkantay as they thought it was too hard...they had just got back from trekking in Nepal!

When Kirsy, Eimear and I got to Cusco we spent a few days 'acclimatising' to the high altitude as is advised before thinking about what hike to book. On our first day we did a free walking tour of Cusco (I really think this is the best way to see a city when you first arrive). Elvis, our tour guide took us through the history of Cusco, showing us the traditional Inca and Spanish churches and buildings, he pointed out the catacombs under Santa Domingo church and he brought us to San Pedro market.  Lines of fresh fruit and vegetables, ladies making fresh juices, butchers chopping and using every part of various animals and too many grains and colours of quinoa that even three dietitians together didn't know existed can be seen as well as the famous alpaca jumpers, hats, crafts, jewellery, literally anything you could think of can be found here! Elvis pointed out where was best to eat in the market (avoiding the ceviche as it's unlikely to be fresh). He also pointed out a woman randomly skinning frogs on a little stool in the middle of the market. I don't want to know what she was using them for. We went back to San Pedro market I think every day we were in Cusco. We bought clothes there, jewellery, fruit, nuts, juices and had lunch there. We also discovered that they do really good coffee in the market for less than $1 (good coffee is surprisingly very difficult to find in South America unless you pay a lot for it). Saturday night in Cusco we decided to 'treat' ourselves to a meal out (e.g pay more than $2 for a menu Del dia). I also tried alpaca meat which was pretty good, a bit like lamb! And we also visited Paddys, 'the highest Irish pub in the world' with the night ending with dancing on the bar in Wild rover hostel. Note: high altitude + hangovers = convincing yourself you're close to death.

San Pedro market  

So with a hangover that was affecting my sanity we bit the bullet so to speak and booked the Salkantay trek to leave the next day. As it is rainy season we got a pretty amazing deal for a five day, four night hike, all meals, camping gear, cooks, guides, entry to Machu Picchu, transport, a night in a hostel and guides! We had our 'induction' the night before and realised two other girls from our hostel, Aimee and Grace from California were also coming on the same trek. After being freaked out by our induction the five of us went to pack and have an early night ready for our 4am pick up.

Day 1: The next morning we got picked up by one of our tours guides, Nico and had a very sleepy two hour bus journey to our first town for breakfast where our group of 20 started to get to know each other. We set off hiking, day 1 as going to be 15km to our first base camp. We quickly realised we were not overly prepared, it rained.....a lot and it was freezing! We hiked to first camp which was at 3800m. The backdrop almost made up for the freezing temperatures! However we were pleasantly surprised when we realised we were actually glamping. Our tents were sheltered and set up when we got there, there were toilets and a room for meals with a big table. The food all through the hike was amazing, three meals a day. Lunch and dinner was three courses and always different but always with a vegetable and quinoa soup. My favourite was mushroom ceviche, beef stirfry with rice, lentils and vegetables. Breakfast was either pancakes, eggs, quinoa chocolate porridge, fruit, bread and hot drinks. Our favourite was 'afternoon snack' of popcorn, crackers and hot chocolate. There was also lots of cocoa tea. Everyone always looked forward to the meals. I'm still surprised how the three cooks (manzanita, jeronimo and anise) managed to make such impressive meals in tiny little kitchens with limited supplies. On our last meal they even made a bird out of a cucumber and a hedgehog out of a pineapple (it's the little touches)!

Night one basecamp 

Day 2: After a very colds night sleep we were woken by the cooks with coca tea at 4.50am and our first breakfast of pancakes. We wrapped up and put on ALL our rain gear and set off for day two...(the hardest day) at around 6am. The first 3hours was a steady ascent up salkantay mountain reaching 4630m! We all took it at our own pace and made it to the top just before 10am. I was blown away by the snow covered mountains and glaciers (and the freezing temperatures). After a lot of congratulating each other, a group picture and a quick history lesson from or guide Nico, we then started our descent for a further two hours where lunch was waiting for us. Hot soup, guacamole, chicken, rice and pasta. And more coca tea. We then hiked a further 10km downhill through the Amazon cloud forests and arrived at our second nights camp at 5pm tucked away in a tiny village in the jungle. Feeling slightly stiff we were happy to learn that two Argentinan girls in our group were yoga enthusiasts and they took us through a quick yoga/stretching sesh before important snack time.

Group picture at the top of Salkantay mountain 

Day 3: After a slightly warmer sleep we were woken again by the cooks with coca tea at 6am (could get used to being woken up with tea every morning). Today we hikd 17km along road, crossing streams and into the Amazon. Our guides Jesus (or baby Jesus as he was nicknamed) and Nico would point out wildlife, birds and plants along the way. It was a nice easy hike and we all enjoyed the sunshine, such a stark contrast to the day before in the snow capped mountains. After about four hours we arrived a to lunch spot in a little village where we had a really good lunch of mushroom ceviche; main of lentils, stir fried beef with veg, rice and salad wth avo. We also had a freshly ground coffee from the farm (so strong and greatly appreciated after days of instant coffee). After lunch we got a bus to our camping spot for night three (and our last night camping). We were all very excited to have an afternoon at a hot springs (mainly cause we hadn't showered in three days). The hot springs were tucked under a mountain in a beautiful valley and we had the next few hours here to relax the aching legs. By the time we got back we were all ready for dinner which was the last dinner from our cooks. That night was 'party night' according to baby Jesus. After dinner he was quick to bring rounds 'inka tequila', a sugar cane liquor which did not taste like it should be ingested. Some of the group hit the inka tequila and beers hard! Especially baby Jesus and we spent the night dancing to regatone around the bonfire (there was a seriously impressive sound system and strobe light scenario). Some decided to head out in the small town of Santa Teresa but I took it easy (so wise) and considering the next day a group of us decided to hike 22km I was glad to be hangover free.

Lunch spot day 3

Day 4: We woke up early again, some suffering more than others. The first 11km of the hike that morning was optional, some opted to take the bus and others zip lined. Aimee, grace, myself and a few others decided to hike through the valley and it was a really nice walk, one of my favourite from the whole trek. We arrived at a point called hidroelectrica where we met back up with the rest of the group and had lunch. From here we hiked a further 11km along the train tracks to Machu Picchu town called Aguas Calientes. We were all looking forward to our night in a hotel..hot showers, a chance to charge our phones and of course get on some wifi! However when we arrived we were told there was a power cut in the whole town (of course)! We took the opportunity to have a wander around the touristy town and thankfully the electricity came back on just before we headed out for our last supper.

Day 4 optional hiking crew 

Day 5: Machu Picchu day!!! After a sleep in a real bed (wow), we hot up at 3.40am (so.early.). We all walked to the bridge where you show your passport and ticket for entry. The queue had already started when we got there at 4.15am with the bridge not opening until 5am. From here we psyched ourselves up for the 1600 steps up to the site....After already hiking 80 odd kilometres in the last few days you can imagine how unhappy the legs were with the prospect of all these steps but we bounded up then in less than 40mins getting to the entrance of the site, looking like we had just run a marathon! But we made it and when we entered the site we were lucky enough that it was nearly empty and it was clear, sunny morning. I must admit, I really was blown away with vastness and detail of the site, especially the beautiful  View our from the ancient town looking at the various mountains with clouds swirling around them. We had a two hour tour by Nico our tour guide. Followed by a few hours of getting the standard 'in at Machu Picchu tourist pics and selfies before getting fed up with all the tourists flooding in later in the morning. Unfortunately it was at this stage that we had to say goodbye to our group as people were on various trains back to Cusco at different times. The girls and I quickly realised that we were the only five taking the more 'economic' option of waking 11km back to hidroeletrica where we had a six hour bus journey back to Cusco. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day and the five of us ended up chatting and laughing the whole way back we barely realised the distance back.

After a nice, relaxed walk back we arrived to get our bus back looking forward to sleeping all the way back. Only to quickly realise it wasn't going to be that easy and it was total chaos with so many
white buses all looking the same and hundreds of tired tourists looking for a white bus to take them to Cusco. After an hour of searching for someone to put us on a bus we finally got on the shittiest bus ever wth no air conditioning, no where to put our bags and six hours of winding roads along cliff edges. Needless to say the bus journey back was definitely the most stressful/hardest part of the five days and of course no chance of sleeping.

We got back to Intro hostel late that night and climbed into bed. The next morning over breakfast, Aimee, Grace, Kristy, Eimear and I reflected on the last five days. Hiking about 92km in total (who's counting), seeing everything from sun, rain, snow on mountains and the jungle and ending at one of the most impressive ancient ruins in the world. Making amazing friends from all over the world and of course eating lots of good food. I would recommend the Salkantay trek to an alternative, more challenging (and cheaper) Inca trail!!

Next stop: Cusco for a few days recovery
Stayed: Intro hostel, Cusco $9/night including breakfast. Camping on the salkantay trek and hotel Eco Mapi in Aguas Calientes
Food/Drink: meals from our great cooks on the trail.

#25 Sand sand EVERYWHERE...Huacachina desert Stop off

Thankfully after a touch and go 24 hours and a good Chinese meal in Lima I was feeling much better. Eimear, Kirsty and I left Lima and took a four and a half hour bus (a very short jaunt these days) wit Cruz Del Sur to a city called Ica where we then took a taxi 8km out of Ica to a small oasis town called Huacachina. Huacachina is a strange place, little restaurants, hostels, hotels, souvenir shops and big colourful dune buggies loop around a small, natural oasis in the middle of the Peruvian desert. The town was solely built for tourism, the main activity being sandboarding and dune buggying in the surrounding sand dunes (whoever came up with this idea was a money making genius)! We were really using Huacachina as a Stop off to break up the journey to Cusco. Of course I wasn't opposed to trialling out this random activity. What's the point in travel insurance if you aren't going to test it out!?

We checked into our hostel wild olive which was a really pretty little place with a kitchen, big living room and restaurant out the back that backed into the boardwalk and oasis. It also had sand boards that we could take for free up to the dunes! That afternoon I decided to test out if I could possibly be any more clumsy on a sandboard than I was on a surfboard (burst lip....still healing). A Dutch guy Patrick we had met in the hostel and I headed off....sandboards under arm. We stupidly ignored the sand dunes where most people were sliding down on their bums and found the highest sand dune we could to walk up. When I say walk I mean clamber..it was exhausting! After about twenty minutes we got to the top and quickly realised that it looked an awful lot steeper from the top. We walked a little further and found a slightly more forgiving slope. Patrick was straight on the board and managed to get down the dune with his feet strapped in with only a couple of tumbles. I'm not going to lie I whimper out on the standing option (a little audience had gathered at this stage too) and I sat on the board for a few hundreds metres before face planting and getting a mouthful (and bra full of sand). After a couple of hours of testing out the boards did back to the hostel to decant all the sand we had collected in our clothes, hair and mouths.

Huacachina town 

Later that night the three of us and Patrick went in search of food. The restaurants are generally a bit more expensive in Huacachina as it's so touristy but we managed to find a set menu Del dia (our fave) for 15 soles ($5) for a fresh chicha mora juice (blackcurrant juice), starter of salad and main of chicken with lentils (lentil joy) and rice. We sat outside and had great entertainment watching a little kitten chase a cockroach...my nights out are too wild these days.

The next day feeling fresh, Kirsty and I decided we needed to get some exercise in. So off we went for a run.....in the smallest little town...In the desert...'crazy gringas'. Our run actually consisted of looping around the small boardwalk a few times, before doing tricep dips on a bench outside and sit ups in the living room of the hostel. I genuinely have no shame anymore. Guess it's inevitable after four months of sharing bedrooms and bathrooms with multiple strangers every day.

Later that day we arranged to do a sand buggy tour and sand boarding. The most popular time to do it is four in the evening as it's a bit cooler then and also means you catch the sunset on the way back. We managed to get a really deal for $8 each (I had expected to pay about double that). Luckily there were five of us and I actually really enjoy trying to haggle in Spanish so we got it cheap. The sand buggying was really good fun with the buggy flying over the sand dunes....like a roller coaster in the desert. We had the chance to board down four different dunes...each one getting steeper and higher each time. Our guide Nico explained it was safer and easier to board down on your tummy. Patrick the Dutch guy still boarded down standing up and fair play to him he did it like a pro. I however stuck to boarding down the (slightly) safer way and considering the speed and steepness of the dunes this was satisfactory adrenaline induction (petrifying)! We were slightly delayed however when our sand buggy ironically got stuck in the sand, leading to Nico using a sandboard as a shovel and then the seven of us (Kirsty, Eimear, me, Patrick, a girl Emma we met in our hostel and a Colombian couple) pushing the sand buggy over the sand dune to free it up. Once it was free we sand boarded down the highest dune leaving me with sand burns and a sore throat from screaming followed by a sunset over the desert. After we got back to the hostel we had enough time to de-sand ourselves and get to Ica to catch our overnight bus to Cusco!

All hands on board to free the buggy 

The quick, sandy, adrenaline inducing Stop off in Huacachina was definitely worth it!

Next Stop: Cusco, Peru
Stayed: Wild olive guesthouse, $10 for dorm including really good breakfast (omelettes are life)
Food/drink: typical menu Of the day for $5 of salad, main of chicken, lentils, rice and a juice (chicha mora). Cusqueña negra wheat Peruvian beer...probably the first beer I've had away that isn't a light larger...I didn't like it!

#24 Clumsy surfing and sampling Pisco in Peru

After three weeks in Ecuador and seven days of this spent in Montañita, Eimear, Kirsty and I planned to head to Peru. The border crossing at Aguas Verdes was rumoured to be 'the most dangerous in South America'. I wasn't really sure why, but the girls had read about people being drugged and their possessions stolen on buses when crossing over the border. After looking into it, there were regular night buses running from Ecuador to Peru so I figured if they were running buses it couldn't be that bad and we decided to take an overnight bus that would take us straight over the border and 'risk it for a chocolate biscuit' so to speak.

We took a bus from Montañita to Guayaquil for $6 where we then planned to take an eight hour bus to Mancora on the Peruvian coast. We looked up some recommended companies and the times. We got to Guayaquil at about 9pm. We went to the ticket desk of CIFA bus and was told they only had two seats left on the night bus....didn't anticipate that one! We tried the only other company running a bus that night and were told the same thing. The first bus in the morning was leaving at 7am. We considered sleeping in the bus station but it didn't really appeal. We tried our luck and went back to the first bus company and asked again.... out of desperation and just in case they had any cancellations. We were told (for the same price of a normal ticket) the third person could sit up the front with the driver and the ticket inspector....not ideal for an overnight bus but probably better than having to wait 10 hours in a bus station in Ecuador. Sold! We waited until 11pm for the bus and I took my seat up front next to the driver, leaving the ticket inspector sitting on the floor in between us. He didn't seem to mind though answering 'tranquilo' when I apologised to him in Spanish for stealing his seat (I assumed this probably happened a lot). While everyone in the coach was asleep with the lights off I was sat in the front with these two middle aged Ecuadorean men  listening to anything from backstreet boys to Ricky Martin, the ticket inspector had plugged his phone into the radio and was playing DJ. Needless to say I hadn't got much sleep by the time we arrived at the border at 3am. As everyone on the coach sleepily got off the bus and were ushered into migration by the bus driver and ticket inspector, I was surprised at how quiet and easy the whole process was with Ecuador exit and Peru entry desks right beside each other in the same room and with our bags staying on the locked bus. The whole process at immigration did take about two hours with two other coaches arriving as well however I'm still unsure where this border got its dangerous reputation. Welcome to Peru!!

Thankfully after the border we all got a seat on the bus and managed to get a few hours sleep before we arrived in Mancora at about seven in the morning. Still half asleep we were shuttled off the coach and quickly approached by a tuk tuk driver asking us where we wanted to go, we were aware that we didn't have any Peruvian currency on us but at that stage we just wanted to get to the hostel so luckily for the tuk tuk driver we agreed to pay him more than the local currency ride in order to pay in dollars (travelling fail)!

The hostel was only five minutes away and was right on the beach, little wooden cabanas in different colours with balconies for the dorms stood facing the beach in a row. There were salt water showers, a little kitchen and communal area and the two friendliest Peruvian men who worked there. It was already quite hot at that time and even though we couldn't check in until 2pm, Marcos and his son offered us breakfast and coffee while we waited for our rooms to be ready. After some food we walked right onto the beach and basked in the blistering sun for the morning.

Cabanas at Misfits hostel 

Mancora beach 

Mancora is another surfer town, smaller than Montañita but lined with souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and the opportunity to rent horses, banana boats, jet skis and quads. Being in Peru, the first thing I wanted to try was ceviche, the traditional Peruvian dish of marinated fish in lime juice with onion, chilli and coriander. I had had it before in Central America but this is where it originated. It was extremely easy to find with almost every restaurant offering it as part of their set menu. I got a type of traditional Peruvian ceviche in a spicy, creamy sauce with a small serving of purple sweet potato on the side) followed by fish in a light sauce with peppers and onions served with a small portion of salad and rice and fresh maracuya juice (family of the passion fruit). All for $3.

Ceviche with sweet potato 

Later that night we went to The point hostel just around the corner from our very quiet residence with a Mexican and Argentinian guy. One or two Pisco sours turned into a very bumpy tuk tuk ride into Mancora where the girls and I ended up in a salsa bar with three local surf instructors who looked about 17 but swore they were in their mid twenties. They were very good salsa teachers and one of them, Jherson offered us free surf lessons the next morning! After a couple extremely strong rums (one shot of coke and four shots of rum) we headed back to our misfitting hostel and clambered up the very dodgy wooden ladder to our dorm. The next morning waking up a bit rough to the sound of the sea crashing on the beach, Eimear politely declined the surf lesson and Kristy with an irrational fear of sharks combined with a hangover also wasn't keen but came with me for the walk down the beach to meet jharin at 10am. We got to surf point a little after ten and was greeted by Jherson with a big smile on his face, he was highly amused at Kirsty's polite decline of the surfing due to shark fear. He grabbed me a big board and for the next hour and a half I went from practising standing on the board correctly on the beach to surfing (small waves) all the way into shore almost knocking out a few kids along the way. This was before of course I realised you were meant to jump off the board about five metres from the shore. Towards the end of the lesson, we came into shore to Jherson  could get another leash as the one I had kept coming off my ankle allowing the board to continue shooting into shore...again endangering more children's lives. While he ran back to the surf shack I clumsily waited in the shallow water holding the massive board, before I knew it a wave crashed into me, causing the board to shoot up and smack me bang in the face knocking me back into the water. I stood up quickly grabbing the board before it hit any more children leading to an arrest for child endangerment before I realised that my lip was gushing blood.....no I didn't cry but yes the beach was crowded full of spectators.....definitely not quite the surfer chick yet. Jherson came back and I embarrassingly showed him my lip and explained to him what happened. Typical, I get left alone with a surfboard for two minutes and nearly wipe out two kids and almost knock myself out. Poor Jherson was so apologetic but Kirsty and I explained to him that I'm muy 'torpe' (clumsy). After the lip stopped bleeding, I thanked Jherson for the excellent surfing lesson and apologised for my clumsiness, we all hugged it out and Kirsty and I walked back to the hostel laughing at my burst lip and me trying to drink the Diet Coke she had bought me in the shop (what a gem)!

Surfing baby waves 

Later that afternoon after another cheap two course meal of fresh ceviche in a light lime marinade with red onion served with plantain crisps and chicken (lime juice and burst lip = extreme pain), we got a bus from Mancora (which much to our joy was an hour and a half late) overnight to Lima which was due to take 20 hours. Of course it ended up taking 23 hours. We took a bus with a company we hadn't heard of before (error) for $33. We had gone for the semi cama option (part reclining chairs). The bus was comfortable but was a bit manic as the driver stopped about for locals along the way, at one point they were even sitting on the stairs. Definitely not good when you're paying for a private overnight bus!

Lima - the capital of Peru.
The main touristy area in Lima is called Miraflores and is apparently full of lovely cafes, restaurants and museums. We had booked a hostel in the centre of Lima instead, purely for ease of getting to and from the bus station. The hostel was in an old French mansion and was lovely with a big roof terrace, high ceilings, a cute kitten and brilliant wifi! It was in the centro historica and had lots of restaurants and shops around as well as a lovely park across the road.

1900 hostel 

The hostel had free ceviche making on offer with their Peruvian chef, and whereas I'm pretty sure I know what encompasses the tasty dish (raw fish, lots of lime juice, chillies, coriander and onion) I really wanted to have the opportunity to see exactly how it is prepared. Unfortunately I was struck down with another dodgy tummy and felt really weak. The pharmacist was however pretty happy to handover some pretty impressive medications so I took these with the hopes I'd be ok to go on the free walking tour that afternoon (also organised for free through the hostel). Thankfully by the time it was 3pm I was feeling a bit better.

Lima santa Domingo church 

The walking tour lasted about three hours and we were taking around the historic centre and real Lima by a lovely Limean girl called Alice. I was surprised to learn that Lima has a population of 10 million people, one quarter of the whole population. She was hilariously amused by Eimear's fair skin pointing out how white she was. She brought us around the city showing us the impressive gold clad churches, presidential palace, Santa Domingo market, the old post office and square where locals gather to sing, dance and sample to local street food puddings and food. She explained the Spanish and Argentinian influences and even brought us to where you can buy the best 'churros' in Lima. We also sampled a traditional rice pudding desert topped with a thick, sweet sauce made from plums called Mazmorra Morada. She also brought us to a church that was built over a graveyard (as all the churches in Lima were) but this one had open catacombs where the bones of the indigenous people could be seen through the grates and some people had also thrown money down.

Chifa meal in Lima 

Later that night, I was feeling a lot better so we decided to try out some 'Chifa food' (Chinese/Peruvian food). We found a row of Chifa restaurants and wandered into one questionable looking establishment, there was one Chinese lady there who seemed to be taking orders, cooking and serving all the food. We didn't really know what a lot of the food was on the menu and even Spanish Dict on our phones didn't help much, she also didn't seem to speak Spanish (or didn't understand our poor pronunciation) and definitely didn't speak English. After much deliberation we all ordered what we thought were relatively safe options. I had a massive bowl of chicken, noodle soup followed by chicken, vegetable noodles. I was literally overjoyed to see the plate piled with cabbage, broccoli and peppers (it's pretty worrying that vegetables could make me so happy).

The next morning we checked out of 1900 backpackers and left Lima for our next destination, this time only a four and a half hour bus journey, easy!

Next Stop: Huacachina, Peru
Food/Drink: Peruvian ceviche, tequeños (cheese empanadas), traditional Peruvian rice pudding with peach sauce (mazmorra morada and arroz zambito), Churros in Lima. Chifa (Chinese/Peruvian) food in Lima, $2 for two course menu of huge portions (and even better, lots of vegetables). Pisco, traditional Peruvian liquor made from distilled grape wine, Pisco sours and chilcano (traditional peruvian drink of pisco, lime bitters and ginger ale).
Stayed: Misfits hostel, Mancora. $8 including breakfast.
1900 backpackers hostel, Centro historica, Lima, $8-10 including breakfast.